TAG | iPhone

With the launch of the new iPhone 5 (or is that 4.2) the other day the world is swept up into iPhone fever. Folks are rushing out to get their hands on their shiny new best friend. All this hoopla (or what Psychologist Robert Cialdini may refer to as Social Proof) over a phone, an Apple product, regurgitates in my head the core reason (get it, apple – core!) I will never buy an iPhone and it’s this same core functionality that Steve Jobs insisted on in the development of the iPhone and indeed iPad…. locking the them down, tying them to iTunes.

Jobs had a vision and he followed it, steadfastly and I respect him for that, it doesn’t mean I can’t disagree with him. I hate the idea of having to load a certain piece of software just to view, add or remove files, pictures, videos, whatever from my phone or any device for that matter (some digital cameras come to mind). I often wonder do iPhone users know this…. an Android phone you can just plug into any pc and add or remove files just as you would with a usb memory stick, no other software is required. Apple you have to use their software.

A cable of course is required, but not a special cable, most android phones now have micro or mini USB, yes that’s the same as you use for your camera or your GPS or non Apple mp3 digital music player, I even have a torch that uses a Micro usb port! Point is, they are everywhere, they are a standard. If you buy an Android phone I’d be pretty confident you already own a cable that connects to it and if you buy an Android next year or three years time chances are, that cable will fit it, unlike the new iPhone 5 cable where that cable fits an iPhone 5 and an iPhone….. or maybe an Apple…. no just an iPhone 5. Apple you have to use their cable.

Ok, lets just say you are happy with the ties iTunes cast’s upon you. Are you happy with how the iPhone looks? No… sure just change to another iPhone design…. oh no hold it, you cant, no you can, just go back a model or two. I don’t want this post to be an Apple bashing and a hail to Android post as I do think Apple make a great phone but there is no way that one phone can be perfect for everybody and this is what Apple are telling people and they buying into it, upgrading into it! Robbing people’s individuality. Apple you have to use their style.

Dear iPhone user, when was the last time you turned to a fellow iPhone user and said “hey look did you see what I can do with my phone?” Bar showing them an app (which they can just go and download and do the same as you) I’m guessing it was years.

Joel Runyon worte a blog post about meeting the inventor of the first PC, Russell Kirsch, in a cafe in Portland. Kirsch made a great point about tablets on how they are used to consume information, how they lacked the ability to empower the user to be creative, unlike a PC where you can learn multiple languages to create code and develop software, tablets he felt stifled creativity. I feel its the same with an iPhone… You have to use Apple’s software, Apples’ cables and Apple’s style. Blinkered to use Apple and that’s why I will never buy an iPhone.

According to the latest analysis, Android operating system from Google now dominates 36 percent of smart phone mobile market in US which is far better than iOS which dominates 26 percent of the market and the third one is Blackberry from RIM with 23% of the market share.

The report of the latest analysis also describes that the battle of U.S. smart phone dominancy is at the stalemate stage with the number being same since past three months for Android and iOS. Just that the free fall of RIM has come to halt at 23% and Windows mobiles are having their share of 10%.

Further to this analysis, it is also mentioned that Android has also beat iOS in terms of data usage from mobiles, on monthly basis. Average data usage from an Android phone user is at 582 MB which is 90 MB more than what user of an iOS uses in a month. An average application download time for an iPhone user is 30 days which is marginally bit less for Android phone user. For Windows phone users, the average data consumption number comes at 317 MB every month and 63% of the users download an application each month.

However, iPhone leads its way in the market when it comes to video streaming and music download as 46 percent iPhone users regularly download music against 43 percent users for Android phone owners. But blackberry is at the opposite side of these results as an average data download ratio stands only at 127 MB in a month.

During the KES2010, which is the Korean equivalent to the Consumer Electronics Show, LG has announced their new handset for the Korean market only. “Another LG device – so what?” probably many of you are asking yourselves right now, but believe me – there is a reason for writing about LU-3000. This device is really fast, faster than iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S, based on a variety of tests of the three devices. So in fact, this turns out to be the fastest Android phone – something which is not common for LG.

The specifications of LU-3000 seem pretty good, although one could have expected a lot more from the “fastest Android handset”. The core of this mobile phone is TI OMAP 3630 processor running at 1GHz, supported by a 3.8-inch IPS TFT display with resolution of 480×800 pixels (it’s pretty good to see IPS panels in a handset, providing viewing angles of 178 degrees and accurate color representation), 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash, capable of recording 1080p HD video, but LU-3000 is also capable of playing 1080p video either on the phone screen or on an external one, using the HDMI output. The version of Android is 2.2, but let’s hope that there will be Gingerbread for it.

It’s a pity that this lovely device will not be released to the rest of the world, but it’s possible that LG would make another device, similar to this one for us. If you are interested in the test between the iPhone, Galaxy S and LU-3000, take a look at the video bellow: